a medical librarian's adventures in evidence-based living

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January 2013

January 22, 2013

Just Saying.... If you aren't already a regular visitor to my Facebook Page--please do check it out. You're missing a lot of helpful information. Several times a day (usually early in the morning or after work) I post summaries to news about medical & wellness research, links to plant-strong recipes, photos of recipes I've made, summaries of articles that make me think, inspire me, make me laugh, enrich my life, and so much more.

If you don't have a FB account, no worries. Once you've landed on my page, just keep hitting the escape button when you're asked to log in or to sign up for FB--and then close that annoying "log in" message, when you can. You should be able to read the entire page.

And Now for the Recipe

On Saturday morning an anonymous (really) HHLL reader sent me this email:

Later, that day I checked out the recipe & it looked outstanding. It was on an Alton Brown show called: "Best Dish I Ever Made: One Dish Wonders"

A winter vegetable soup that Alton Brown says is one of his best dishes?

A winter vegetable soup that can be made Plant Strong? No-oil?

I was on it in a flash! I watched the video, copied down the recipe. Silly me--if I had searched for 30 seconds, I would have found the recipe already printed out. Aargh!

I cut out the oil, increased the amounts of some of the vegetables, substituted vegetable broth instead of water---& bingo! I had a recipe.

On Monday morning as I left the house for work, the Lab Rat asked, "How about a hearty soup for dinner tonight? Any ideas?"

"Oh, yeah! I have just the right recipe. And here it is."

Full Disclosure:Alton adds a definitely "no-no" plant-strong ingredient to this recipe. Some of you may be shocked that I even included it in my soup. I made the executive decision that it was just a "flavorizer"---and I wanted to find out how much flavor it was really going to add to the soup.

Honestly, both the Lab Rat & I noticed the delicious "robusto punch" it added. When the soup was finished cooking--we discarded it. Just like a bouquet garni. Right into the garbage. I think it would add to the depth of flavor in my Italian Wedding Soup Rapido, too.

You can easily leave it out--but, I thought it added a mellow richness--without adding any cheese. There was nothing to really melt. It's just a thin 2-inch square sliver of parmesan rind. It stayed pretty much intact & was easy to discard after cooking. Obviously, this is a deal-breaker for 100% vegans. Easy to leave out.

1 pound, 2 ounces of pre-cut butternut squash cubes (the size of TJ's pre-packaged cut-up squash) TIP: You can roast the cubes & add near the end of the "soup-cooking" time, for an even richer taste.

10 ounces of chopped curly kale, stems removed

2 cans (15 ounce ea.) no-salt Great Northern beans---DO NOT DRAIN!

2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar. (Alton says the vinegar cuts the acidity of the tomatoes)

Directions:

OPTION:You can roast the butternut squash chunks in a 425 degree oven & add them near the end of the "soup-cooking" time, when you add the mushrooms back into the soup--for an even richer taste.

1. Use a large 8 quart soup pot. Heat on high & sear & brown the mushrooms, until tender. Only add a little water or broth if they start to stick. Remove them from the pot, to add back in later.

2. Lower heat & sweat onions, carrots, & celery over low heat for 30 minutes, at least. I like to cover the pot, and stir occasionally, checking to see if they are getting too dry, & need a little water to deglaze the pan. They’ll be very soft.

3. Add in garlic, rosemary, & sage

4. Add the tomatoes in their juice, & mix with a wooden spoon to break up the tomatoes. Cook for about 5 minutes, to blend everything together. (Note: next time I'm using chopped tomatoes)

5. Increase the heat, & add the vegetable broth to the pot. Mix in soy sauce & drop in the parmesan rind heat just until boiling.

7. Now, add the mushrooms back in, & the 2 undrained cans of Great Northern beans to help thicken the soup with the starch. Mix well. Then add the 2 TBS of red wine vinegar to cut the acidity from the tomatoes.

8. Heat through.

9. Alton says this is the best soup he has ever made.

Options: Consider adding some orzo or other whole grain small pasta into the soup.

For most of 2012 I neglected this crazy delicious savory nutrient-powerhouse of a breakfast.

You know me by now.

I'm always trying something new--and I just got totally hooked on my chocolate oatmeal with raw buckwheat groats & berries for breakfast. It was like eating a dessert. I couldn't give it up. Just never tired of it--and completely ignored my old breakfast friend, "Cheezy Oats with Greens".

That is, until yesterday. My birthday, and the second day of the New Year--2013.

Wow, is all I can say! I'm bringing it back for 2013. Big time.

I highly recommend you give it a try, too. Almost everyone I know who has tried it has loved its hearty sophisticated taste. Except kids, of course.

Who says breakfast oatmeal ought to be sweet? Savory really does kick it up a notch & it's the perfect foil for morning greens.

Here's what I posted on Facebook yesterday:

Oh, baby! I started the New Year & my birthday off right with the BREAKFAST of CHAMPIONS! "Not Your Mother's Oatmeal! A Mega-Nitric Oxide Antioxidant Boosting Breakfast for Champions: The Healthy Librarian's Savory "Cheezy" Oatmeal with Shiitake Mushrooms, Sundried Tomatoes & Kale.

This is beyond belief delicious--like an amazing spicy risotto. Usually, I make this with spinach--but, today it was kale. I also used vegetable broth instead of the water & sun dried cherry tomatoes from our garden.

Anthony Yen, one of Dr. Esselstyn's original patients. Here, at age 81, at a Whole Foods/Engine 2 event, May 2010

"Cheezy" oats for breakfast? Have I really gone off the deep end? Probably--but let me explain how I got this crazy notion.

About four weeks ago, I ran into Dr. Esselstyn at the gym. He was headed in to go swimming--I was heading out to get to work. We had a mile-a-minute discussion about walnuts, nitric oxide, greens, alpha-carotenes & oatmeal. He told me how much he liked my post about that little-known antioxidant in oats--avenanthramide--and its beneficial effect on our blood vessels.

Turns out, according to Dr. Mohsen Meydani, the "oat expert" at the USDA-Agricultural Research Vascular Biology Lab at Tufts University, oats help prevent atherosclerosis by increasing artery-saving nitric oxide production in the endothelium or lining of our arteries. That's the "magic gas" that keeps the arteries relaxed and dilated. And it's a dose-response--the more avenanthramides you eat, the greater the nitric oxide production. The dose-response thing--that's the part of my post that really grabbed Dr. Esselstyn's attention. More oats=more nitric oxide!

To read the whole post about Oatmeal: The Breakfast of Champions click here.

The two new take-aways I learned in our morning conversation:

Esselstyn noticed that his own cholesterol decreased about 8-10% when he started eating oatmeal after dinner, as a kind of dessert--and he always uses oat milk with his oats. As crazy as it sounds, oat milk is really delicious, and it's a staple in our pantry.

Ideally, we should aim to include greens in our diet about 6 times a day--to get a regular nitric-oxide boost! And it looks like oats are a pretty good stand for greens in the nitric oxide boosting-department.

Well, Anthony always includes vegetables in his daily oatmeal breakfast! He adds about 3 handfuls of spinach or 2 cups of frozen mixed vegetables and some low-sodium tamari to his morning oats. Don't think so? Not for me? That's what I thought at first, too. I was wrong!

Anthony was one of Dr. Esselstyn's early patients. He had a massive cardiac event on New Year's Eve 1987, followed by a quintuple bypass surgery that left him feeling immobilized, depressed, and hopeless.

Anthony said, "I blamed myself for what I had done to myself. I wanted to know what caused my disease, and how do I stop it." When Anthony told his cardiologist that he wanted to see Dr. Esselstyn, the cardiologist said, "Esselstyn is not a cardiologist. If you go to him, don't come back to see me."

Anthony was furious. "I wanted to get to the cause, and the doctor was so negative. So I fired the cardiologist, and went to Dr. Esselstyn on my own." As Anthony's wife Joseanne explains, "He had no hope. He was willing to do anything." pg. 24-25, Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease.

Anthony's story really came to life for me when I heard him tell it on a preview DVD of Forks Over Knives I saw last spring. His personal experience is both compelling and convincing. Soon after I viewed the DVD, I got to meet him when Rip Esselstyn came to town for a local roll-out of the national Whole Foods' Health Starts Here program. Read all about Whole Foods' down-right-revolutionary approach to a healthy diet-- here.

Is this distinguished gentleman who's brimming with health & vitality really over 80 years old? Was he really once overweight with severe heart disease? He and his wife Joseanne have been eating no-oil & plant-based for 24 years now, and his picture (above) says it all. He's also fantastic in Forks Over Knives!

At the Whole Food s Healthy Start Roll-Out in May 2010. That's me BEFORE I Cut Out Oil, Nuts, Chocolate & Avocados--and lost weight!

In the Pot, Ready to Cook - Doesn't Look a Thing Like My Fave Pumpkin Oatmeal

Anthony & Dr. Esselstyn were my inspiration to find an easy tasty savory breakfast oatmeal with greens. Today, I finally tried out a recipe, and I was happily surprised at the results. Actually, I thought it was fabulous--but that's me. Try it, and let me know what you think.

I'm also looking forward to hearing your suggestions for some other knock-your-socks-off savory seasonings. I'm throwing out the challenge! Greens for Breakfast! A call for recipes.

Honestly, it's kinda of like eating a savory frittata. Oooh--maybe some leftover potatoes, roasted red peppers, or even jalapenos for add-ins. But it's got to be something quick.

About a handful (5) dried shiitake mushrooms, broken into pieces & rinsed. Use any dried mushrooms you like.

2 1/2 ounces of fresh baby spinach, rinsed per serving of oatmeal!! I make enough oatmeal for 4 servings & each serving will need to be topped with 2.5 ounces of spinach. (You can substitute kale or any other green, too. Kale just takes longer to soften up)

2. Heat to boiling. Watch carefully, and turn it down to a simmer once it starts to boil. Stir occasionally, and check back in about 10 minutes. You'll want the water absorbed, and the oats nice & creamy.

3. When the oats are done, microwave one serving of spinach briefly, until it's soft, but not mushy. Depending upon your microwave this could take anywhere from 30 seconds to 2 minutes.

4. Top one serving of oatmeal with the softened spinach & mix. Enjoy!

5. Store the rest of the oatmeal (3 servings) in the fridge, and in the morning heat up 1 serving topped with the spinach in the microwave.

Check out this powerhouse of a breakfast! A double dose of nitric oxide boosting power from oats & spinach! Crazy how much nutrition is one breakfast bowl!

January 01, 2013

I had such a hankering for chocolate on Sunday night. And Kathy Hester's, The Vegan Slow Cooker was sitting on the kitchen counter.

Bingo! I found what looked like the perfect recipe. Quick. Easy. Mostly healthy ingredients.

But, I wasn't interested in waiting the 6-8 hours it would take to make these brownies Kathy's way--in my slow-cooker.

My serious chocolate craving solution? I mixed up all the ingredients. Put them in an 8 inch square silicone baking pan and baked them in the oven at 350 degrees. Done in 30 minutes. Even better on day two.

1/4 teaspoon of chipotle powder, cayenne, or chile powder (I used chipotle) Omit if you're not fond of this Mexican-style chocolate taste)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Note: Kathy Hester offers variations. Leave out the chile. Add more agave if making this for kids. Leave out chile & cinnamon & add some mint extract instead.

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Process oats in your VitaMix (works best, but be sure it is dry), or your food processor. A regular blender may also work--haven't tried it. Or, use oat flour.

3. Empty the oat "flour" into a mixing bowl, along with the chopped nuts.

4. Add the beans, bananas, applesauce, agave, cocoa, chipotle powder or cayenne or chile powder, cinnamon, & vanilla to the food processor & process until smooth. This takes more time than you'd expect. Just be sure it's mixed up well.